With the Spring season comes for me about three weeks of hell......allergy season. Often I wonder why I cannot just schedule myself to be out of the Northern Hemisphere around this time but it never happens....as such, I can see well, I can't smell, I can't taste, etc,...

But with the heavy rains this week came a bit of relief. Rain is great...takes the pollen right out.... Been craving some Italian for a while..not sure why but tonight, got enough of my nose to risk opening up a bottle.

The 2000 Valdinera Sontuoso Nebbiolo D'alba is not a rustic wine but a bit more modern I think. The nose is almost a very fragrant wood, deep cherries, with the same on the palate, but dry and very tannic still. Long long finish. Very decent for $27.99 and could've used another few years or so to resolve these tannins...seems to have a great structure behind it to make sure it lasted this long too.